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Today we review the 50 year impact of The University of New South Wales' Campus Bible Study on Christian ministries across Australia and around the world - in raising up gospel workers, sending missionaries, planting churches and in Christian publishing. Former Anglican Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen led the ministry for thirty years till 2005. Since then Paul Grimmond and Carl Matthei have been senior chaplains. Alan Stewart started studying at the University of New South Wales just two years after Phillip Jensen arrived as Anglican Chaplain. Alan was saved by Jesus in 1979 and went on to assist in the ministry, before becoming CEO of Anglican Youthworks, Bishop of Wollonong, head of Church Planting for Sydney Anglicans and then national director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. Tony Payne and Tracey Gowing started as undergraduate a few years after Alan. Tony went on to run the influential Christian publishing house Matthias Media, while Tracey led the Christian ministry at Cumberland College Christian Group before returning to UNSW as a senior staff member at Campus Bible Study. Reach Australia National ConferenceReach Australia's National Conference is happening from 19 to 22 May 2025 on the Central Coast of NSW. This year's theme is URGENT: The Necessary Task of Mission Before Christ Returns. For more info.Anglican AidAnglican Aid - To find out more about how to support Anglican Aid. The Church CoA website and app platform built specifically for churches: http://www.thechurchco.com Dominic Steele's preaching at Village Subscribe to Dominic Steele's weekly sermons from the Village Church website. Support the show--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.
Romans 8:1-17 - Phillip Jensen (8 Dec 2024) by St Matthew's Shenton Park
Phillip Jensen continues our Advent series in the Gospel of Mark, speaking at our 6pm service on Mark 2:1-3:6 at Providence City on the 8th of December 2024.
Phillip Jensen continues our Advent series in the Gospel of Mark, speaking at our 6pm service on Mark 2:1-3:6 at Providence City on the 8th of December 2024.
In this episode, from a chapel service held on Friday 27 September 2024, Phillip Jensen, Bible teacher and evangelist with Two Ways Ministries, preaches on 1 Timothy 2:1-7 and the need to pray for all those in authority so that we who are under their rule can proclaim Christ to the world.He reminds us that Jesus didn't come into the world to make us comfortable in the godlessness of Australia; he came into the world to save sinners by his sacrificial death, and he calls on us to do the same.For more audio resources, visit the Moore College website. There, you can also make a donation to support the work of the College.Contact us and find us on socials.
What is it to be #likeaman?There are not many places in the New Testament where men are spoken to specifically.Today we are thinking about being a Christian man.In the ESV and NASB the translation of 1 Corinthians 16:13 has ‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong'. (ESV)But what does that mean?Dominic Steele put that question to panelists at the recent Men Meeting the challenge conference:Adrian Russell, senior minister of Northmead Anglican Church.Craig Hamilton, senior minister at Pitt town.Robin Kinstead, senior minister of Figtree Anglican.And Phillip Jensen who heads up Two Ways Ministries. Support the Show.--Become a regular financial supporter of The Pastor's Heart via Patreon.
Explicatory Preaching with Philip JensenFor more articles, books, and podcasts, please visit 9marks.org
Richard makes a last minute dash to the airshow and Jo meets some fellow kookaburra victims. Jo and Richard discuss Psalm 103 and Phillip Jensen's new book on the Holy Spirit. An announcement is made.Psalm 103The Coming of the Holy Spirit, Phillip D. JensenSupport the show
It's sad that over the last century, so much division among Christians has come from different beliefs about the Holy Spirit. Perhaps what's even more sad is that these differences are, at their core, about God himself. Who is the God we worship? What is the work that he does in our lives? How does he work, and to what end does he do this work? The tragedy is that the Holy Spirit is promised to us as the bond of peace among Christians (Eph 4:3). Indeed, it's in spiritual unity that we confess one Lord, one faith and one baptism, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:5. In this episode of the CCL podcast with Phillip Jensen, we look a little bit more closely at what the Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit. In particular, what does the gift of the Spirit mean for us in our Christian lives? For an edited transcript and show notes, visit https://ccl.moore.edu.au/resources/podcast-episode-096/ Send us your ethical questions using the contact form on our website: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/contact/
In this week's Two Ways News I'm flying solo, my regular co-pilot (Phillip Jensen) having been grounded with a nasty bug.My subject connects with a number of themes we've been discussing over the past several episodes. Given the increasing marginalization of Christianity in our culture, is it going to get more difficult to preach the gospel? Or perhaps easier?If God's gospel is going to run free—unchained and powerful and changing people's lives—how is that going to happen if we are increasingly being silenced?PSThanks to those who've been sending in questions and comments, particularly about our recent discussion of the place of ‘desire' in evangelism. To listen to an answer to a particularly thoughtful question on this subject, have a listen to the podcast audio above, starting at 14:45. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
How do we work together in complementarian ministry as we lead small group bible studies/growth groups/community groups? Small groups are the heart beats of our churches, where we wrestle together on how God might have us live. Most groups have a male and female paired together in leadership. But how do those two people work together?Do we see their roles as identical/mirror images of the other. Or are the roles different? Kara Hartley is Archdeacon for Women's ministry in the Sydney Anglican Church. Tony Payne is chair of Matthias Media, serves on team at Campus Bible Study at Sydney's UNSW, and podcasts with Phillip Jensen at Two Ways News. Help us upgrade the cameras and video switching equipment used for The Pastor's Heart. Make a regular donation via http://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart or make a one of donation at http://www/thepastorsheart.net Support the show--To make a one off contribution to support The Pastor's Heart's ministry go to this link, or to become a regular Patreon supporter click here.
The Alpha Course is 'emotionally powerful but theologically confused'.“Personally, I wouldn't be game to use something that I know is inadequate” - Christian Author Tony Payne has watched through the latest Alpha materials.Tony joins Dominic Steele in this BEST OF episode to work through the strengths and weaknesses of the Alpha Course.This conversation is a high level discussion of Alpha, beginning with the heart of the Christian leader and our obligation to build upon strong gospel foundations. Tony acknowledges Alpha's high production values, and powerful emotional content, but says Alpha still reflects CH Dodd's influence, 'There was a strong movement in theology to stand against the idea that God is judge of all the world, and that God's primary and only stand towards us is love. And that our problem with God is that sin has natural cause and effect consequence, with no sense that sin is a personal offence to God, and that God is deeply angry with us and our sin.''It's a gospel in which sin is the doing of bad stuff that has bad consequences, and that God's attitude to us is only love. And that what happens on the cross is a dealing with sin, a paying the price. But there's no explanation of what that means.' Tony also challenges us to reflect: are we trusting God to save people, or relying on our own ability to 'reshape' the message of the gospel to seem reasonable and attractive and explains his own reasons behind choosing not to use the course. Listen to the full conversation - regardless of whether you use the Alpha course or not - it is a good opportunity to reflect on our hearts towards evangelism. Tony Payne is the founding editor of Matthias Media, and Writer-in-residence at Campus Bible Study in Sydney. He has written (or co-authored) numerous books and ministry resources, including The Trellis and the Vine, and currently publishes an online blog/podcast with Phillip Jensen called Two Ways News.Disclaimer: Tony Payne is one of the authors of Two Ways to Live. Dominic Steele is author of Introducing God.***As The Pastor's Heart grows in audience our opportunities and responsibility grow as well. We want to get better and that takes more resources. We are asking listeners to partner with us to help fund our production, editorial, distribution and promotion.To support The Pastor's Heart - http://patreon.com/thepastorsheart Support the show
What are the fundamentals that we share as evangelical Christians—the beliefs that bind us together as partners in the gospel, and which enable us to work together? And correspondingly, how much difference and disagreement is too much? When and how can we still work together despite our differences?And what has all this got to do with the Federalist Society?Listen to the full conversation, or read Tony's summarising article at twoways.news.Resources referred to:Student Witness and Christian Truth, by Robert M. HornThe Limits of Fellowship, by Phillip Jensen (article with link to audio). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
Sometimes evangelicals are accused of making such a big deal of full-time Christian work that it sends an implicit (or even explicit) signal that people who don't go into full-time ministry are second class. At other times, we panic about the ‘minister drought' and bemoan the fact that no-one is being challenged to go into full-time ministry any more.Is it possible to avoid these problems? What's the right way to challenge people to consider full-time Christian work without devaluing those who don't pursue that path?A conversation with Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen.Links:Ray Galea's new book on this very topic is now available to pre-order. Eager to Serve: Facing our fears, counting the cost, and stepping up in gospel ministryTony's little book for every Christian on seeing yourself as a disciple-making disciple is also worth a look: The Thing Is: God, you and your purpose in life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
In last week's episode, we touched briefly on 'postmodern progressive tribalism' -- a description that sounds mostly negative, especially about tribalism. But is tribalism necessarily bad? Is individualism (which is its most frequent alternative) any better? And is there a gospel way of thinking about tribalism and individualism that saves us from the pitfalls of both? Join Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen for a lively discussion of these questions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
The first edition of Two Ways News, a new podcast and newsletter collaboration between Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen. Find out more, subscribe, and read or listen to past editions of Tony's newsletter 'The Payneful Truth', at the Two Ways News website. To get in touch, make comments or ask questions, send an email to tonyjpayne@me.com. And if you'd like to listen to the whole clip of Stephane Grappelli's swing version of Bach's Double Concerto, you can find it here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
Some significant changes are coming up for The Payneful Truth. I'll talk about those changes below, but first (and more importantly) to this week's topic and guest.A conversation on evangelism with John LavenderOne of the things I've loved most about doing The Payneful Truth over the past couple of years is the interaction with readers and listeners. Of all those who've sent in encouraging comments and questions, the prize for quantity with quality easily goes to John Lavender. John is a church planter and minister here in Sydney, who has been working over the last couple of years with Evangelism and New Churches (an organization within the Sydney Anglican diocese that promotes and resources evangelism). His main job over the past couple of years has been to visit churches and work with them to encourage and improve evangelism, and for a while now I've been wanting to talk with him about what he's learned doing this. What's the state of play around Sydney evangelistically? Here's an edited version of the conversation John and I recently had.TP: John, in your work with ENC, you get quite a picture of what's happening evangelistically in churches around Sydney. We keep being told in the media that Christianity is declining (as the Census data apparently tells us) and that all is doom and gloom. But where do you see good things happening?JL: I hear so many good news stories. Little things like a guy who meets a new neighbour, strikes up a conversation and boldly asks him to read the Bible with him. And the neighbour says yes, and so he works through the Bible with him, and invites him to church.Or a group of ladies who meet new people who move into their street, provide meals for them, and then invite them to church.I see lots of little things like that where people take the initiative to invite, to read the Bible—that's wonderful.In terms of the bigger picture, some of the churches I've visited are just so committed to helping people come to know Jesus. They have a really good structure: there's good training, the church is welcoming, you arrive and are followed up, the vibe is good, people show interest in you, the sermon is engaging, and you're invited into a follow-up course. It's really good! There are churches where there are only one or two converted every now and then, but I've been in other contexts that are having 10 or 20 or 30 new people coming each week, where there are significant numbers of people hearing, responding, and wanting to hear more. It's very encouraging.TP: What about where it's not working so well. What weaknesses have you seen?JL: This can be a bit sad, because you see people who aren't gripped by who Jesus is, or they don't see they have a role to play in speaking about Jesus. There are churches that just haven't connected at all with their suburb or the community around them, and that's really sad. Some churches aren't really sure how to actively reach the people around them. The people are reluctant or afraid or not sure how to bring Jesus into an everyday conversation.But I'm encouraged because the ministers will say me to me, “John, can you help us? How can we raise the evangelistic temperature at our church? How can the congregation be better equipped? How can we connect with people, and follow them up?” It's encouraging that they see the problems, and want to give it a crack. TP: What do you think is the main problem?JL: Before I point at others I want to think about myself. Two passages I'm passionate about are 2 Cor 4 and 2 Cor 5.In 2 Cor 4, the contrast is between the temporary things of this world and eternity, and I'm just so conscious how often I've got my eyes set on the things of this world rather than on eternity.In 2 Cor 5, Paul talks about being compelled or convinced of Christ's love—I want to be convinced and compelled by that every day! He talks about the urgency. As I think about myself and our churches, I'm conscious that we're lured into chasing the things of this world. We're not fully convinced of the need to be Christ's ambassadors (as 2 Cor 5 says); we're not gripped by the urgency of the whole thing. I want to work hard to change the focus; to help people see that eternity is at stake; to be convinced and compelled by what Christ has done for us. That's what I want to encourage people and churches to be on about.I think the other issue is love. I've been reading Before you Share your Faith by Matt Smethurst, and reckons that one of the major reasons is simply that we don't love people. What a slap in the face that is! If we loved people we'd be ready to talk to them about Jesus and about their future and about why Jesus is so good.TP: How do you address this? How do you raise the temperature of evangelism and love and conviction?JL: Well, one way would be by working through chapters like 2 Cor 4 and 5! Another one is Matt 9, where Jesus sees the people harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. It's encouraging them to look out, and to seek to have Jesus' vision of the world. To go back to 2 Cor 4—I've heard Rico Tice talk about how Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the glory of Christ. He has this line, “We preach Christ, and God opens blind eyes”. I want to help people see that we're involved in this kind of spiritual battle. Will we pray for the people that God brings across our path, that we'd be bold enough to speak to them about Jesus? And to pray that as we speak to them, God would open their blind eyes, and unblock their deaf ears, and soften their hard hearts so that they would be able to see the glory of Christ.That's what I talk about with people. Will you be bold? Will you pray? Will you ‘cross the pain line', as Rico Tice says, to bring Jesus into the conversation? And whether you get hostility or hunger, keep talking to people about Jesus.TP: What about practical ideas? What sort of approaches do you recommend?JL: Jesus calls people to ‘fish for people'. These days, we do a lot of our fishing on our own—we sit in a boat on our own, or go down to the rock ledge on our own. But a lot of 1st century fishing was done together.I want to encourage churches to do more fishing together—to set up groups of 2, 5, or 10 people, to work together in evangelism. It means that as a group they are praying for connections and contacts; they can share their frustrations and disappointments; they can pray for people they're having conversations with; they can do things together, like lunches and dinners to invite people to. To have groups and structures like that in place is really helpful I think. Fishing alone can be discouraging, but fishing in a group is a very helpful structure and strategy.Over the years, I've also been a real fan of Christianity Explained. We adapted it into something that was done over four weeks. You bring a friend along to sit in with you. (We found it hard to get people to commit to longer than four weeks.)Those sorts of evangelistic courses can be really helpful. But I've also become more aware recently of the power of the simple question: ‘Would you like to read the Bible with me?'. There are some excellent resources for this, like The Word One to One. I know of churches that get people together for wine and cheese, and then everyone sits down one-to-one and works through the Gospel of John. I've heard terrific stories of people using The Word One to One to read the Bible with friends and workmates.TP: As a variation on that, one of the structures a number of campus ministries are using these days is evangelistic Bible-reading triplets. So the question you ask is not ‘Would you like to read the Bible with me?' but ‘I'm going to be reading the Bible with my friend, Geoff. Would you like to join us?' Sometimes this is an easier invitation. And having a third person in the conversation can often help.JL: Yes, there are so many good resources and approaches. All the work you've done on reworking the Two ways to live material, for example, is really useful. It helps people to have clarity about what the gospel really is, and what the different aspects of the gospel mean. It's a framework to guide the conversation.I also encourage people to develop their own 20-30 second testimony about the difference that Jesus has made to them, so that they can explain in just 30 seconds who Jesus is, what he's done, and the difference he has made in my life.In my observation, churches that are doing well have a good mix of ‘Go and tell' and ‘Come and see'. They're equipping their people to go out in the world and talk about Jesus, but also have good structures and opportunities for inviting people to events and courses and church and so on.TP: John, all this has been your own life over many decades. You've planted and grown an evangelistically vibrant church in Sydney's West. Looking back over all that work, what would you do differently?JL: I've recently been reading the book of Acts. There were things that came up for the early church that could easily have distracted them—persecution from outside; opposition from within; problems with leadership. Those distractions could have distracted them from proclaiming Jesus.I think this is what happens in real life. Looking back, I'd want to be more alert to the fact that distractions will come and derail things. They just do. I would have liked to be more conscious and aware of these, and to stay focused; to be like the apostles in Acts 6, who address the issue and remain devoted to their main ministry.As a church grows, it's also very easy to move from mission mode to maintenance mode. Maintaining the trellis takes a lot of time. So I'd say that one of the things I learned over time is the importance of maintaining the discipline to stay in mission mode; to not let distractions divert me.Some exciting changes for The Payneful TruthOver the past couple of months I've been thinking about this newsletter/podcast, and where to take it from here. I've had two main thoughts:* I'd like to keep doing it! In God's kindness, I think it's been worthwhile.* I'd like to find a partner in crime—someone to work with regularly, not just to share the load, but so that mine is not the only voice that you hear.Well, it turns out that I've found a partner in crime—an old crim that I've done many jobs with in the past: Phillip Jensen.Phillip has recently started a podcast and has been looking for ways to improve and grow it. It seemed a logical step for the two of us to join forces again, and see what we could do together. And given that Phillip has a nice, gospel-sounding name for his ministry (Two Ways Ministries), it also gave me a chance to change the name (I've never been totally happy with The Payneful Truth).So, in few weeks time, The Payneful Truth will relaunch as Two Ways News. (The new site address will be twoways.news)I'll still be editing and driving the weekly newsletter, and will write the main article every second week. On the alternative week, Phillip will generate the main content. And each week we'll have a podcast conversation together, in which we will talk through whatever the week's topic happens to be.We're also planning to bring in other voices, and we have ideas for additional podcasts and content down the track. But all that will develop as we go along.What will it mean for you?Things will stay mostly the same. You don't have to re-subscribe or change anything. I'll basically just be changing the name of the newsletter/podcast and joining up with Phillip as a regular partner.But there will be one practical change:Every edition of Two Ways News will be available free, every weekWe've decided to change things up a bit regarding who gets what, and how the paid subscription side of things will work. The weekly newsletter and podcast will be available free for anyone who wants it—either by signing up to receive the weekly email newsletter or by subscribing to the podcast in your app of choice.Those who are currently paid subscribers will become members of a new Supporters Club. Supporters Club members will get some special benefits (like bonus content), but the main reason to become a Supporter is … that you want to support me in doing the work! It will be less of a paywall and more of a gospel partnership.So if you're currently a free subscriber or free podcast listener—you don't need to do anything. When we relaunch, you'll just be getting more content from us than before. And if you'd like to join the Supporters Club at some point, you'll be able to do so at whatever amount you can afford.The timelineThere's still a bit of work to do in getting the new thing together, and I'm also due to be away on holidays for a couple of weeks in late September and early October. So the plan over the next few weeks is as follows:* This will be the final edition of the newsletter/podcast under the ‘Payneful Truth' name. I'll be pressing pause while I do the work needed for the changeover and go on holidays for a couple of weeks.* The first edition of Two Ways News will drop on Thursday, October 13.I hope all that makes sense. Please get in touch if you have any questions.Thanks again for reading and listening. I'm really looking forward to whatever God has in store for us next.TP This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
https://host.moore.edu.au/audio/chapel/PJPsalm137.mp3 https://youtu.be/sufQcxNXiAQ
https://host.moore.edu.au/audio/chapel/PJPsalm137.mp3 https://youtu.be/sufQcxNXiAQ
In this episode of Help Me Teach the Bible, Nancy talked with Phillip Jensen at his Two Ways Ministries office in the heart of Sydney, Australia. Over a lifetime, Jensen's ministry has centered around the exposition of the Scriptures. He served as chaplain for the University of New South Wales, offered leadership to the Katoomba Christian Convention, founded Matthias Media, and most recently served as dean of St. Andrews Cathedral in Sydney.To teach 1 Timothy, Jensen suggests we begin not at the outset of the letter but at the center, where Paul's purpose for writing is stated clearly (1 Tim. 3:15) and should, therefore, inform our teaching throughout. Jensen challenges our preconceived understandings of “the mystery of godliness,” and provides a framework for understanding Paul's teaching in 1 Timothy 2 about the proper behavior of men and women in the church.Print and audio resources on 1 Timothy:1–2 Timothy and Titus: A 12-Week Study by Brian Tabb1–2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit by Bryan ChapellExalting Jesus in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus by David Platt and Daniel AkinSermons on 1 Timothy by Phillip JensenSermons on 1 Timothy by Dick LucasSermons on 1 Timothy by Alistair BeggBooks by Phillip Jensen:Guidance and the Voice of GodTwo Ways to Live pamphlet
Mothers Day is a day of both celebration and sorrow for some. In today's episode, we think theologically, historically and pragmatically with Kate Stace and Phillip Jensenon on how to make Mothers Day excellent at church and how to serve the church family well for maximum mission impact! Since Mothers Day is emotionally complex for a number of members inside and out of the church, we also talk on how to care personally for these people who struggle through this day.Kate Stace is part of the team at Vine Church in Surry Hills in Sydney and Phillip Jensen is the former Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral. https://phillipjensen.com/resources/the-mothers-of-mothers-day/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)Advertisment:At Village Church Annandale in the inner west of Sydney we are looking for a full time assistant minister to join our team to work in the area of maturity and ministry.Details are at http://villagechurch.sydney/assistant Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Listen, watch or download.
Listen, watch or download.
For our first Q&A interview for 2022, I figured it was time to sit down with Phillip Jensen and have a chin wag. As is usually the case when we get together, the conversation bounced here and there, covering everything from why the resurrection is the climax of the gospel, to why our preaching should be more like an exposé than an apology. The audio version of the conversation goes for about 40 minutes. The edited text version below doesn't cover the whole thing—but I figured that 3000 words of transcript was enough!Enjoy.TPTony: So there are all kinds of things I was going to talk you about today. But you just were mentioning before that you've started work on another book—on evangelism. Why do we need a book on evangelism?Phillip: Well, the book that's been a great help to people was Chapman's Know and Tell The Gospel. But a generation has risen up that has never heard of Chappo, and people read books that are current rather than what is really best. So I think we just need another book that is currently teaching people about evangelism, encouraging them to do it.TP: What's the outline of it?PJ: Part 1 is on the who, why, what, when kind of thing—who evangelises, why do you evangelise? Part 2 then works through the gospel itself (I'm going to use Two ways to live as the summary) showing the kategorics of it rather than the apologetics of it. Because I think in our evangelism, we are too defensive and not... What's the alternate word for defensive that's nice?TP: Positive?PJ: Well … we're not telling the world that the world is wrong. But if the end point is that want to ask people to repent, you've got to point out what's wrong with your life that you need to repent from. And so, it's showing the implications of creation and rebellion and judgment in terms of how the world is operating in blindness and ignorance. So it's the accusing of the world by the gospel. And then, Part 3 of the book is about the spiritual nature of evangelism. Because it's about prayer. It's about the work of the Holy Spirit in changing people's lives. It's about our need to beg God for the mercy that is really required. We need to be more encouraged, I think, that this is not an impossible task because we have God doing the task. The Holy Spirit in the end is the evangelist.TP: In talking about ‘kategorics' in Part 2, are you saying—if repentance is a turning from and a turning to, what are you turning from? Like turning from idols to the true and living God?PJ: Yes that's right. Think how the Bible treats idolatry. It really says that it's foolishness; it's an absurdity. To worship things that are less than yourself as if they are God, is just an absurdity. And likewise, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. But we say, “All of the most educated, wise, sensible people in all the universe are saying there is no God. And so we've got to answer their accusations.” Now, the fool of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 is a moral fool—but then that's the point.TP: So ‘positive' is not the right word. We're not trying to be positive about the world, but expose the folly of the world through shining the light of the gospel on it. But I was going to ask you: how do we do that in a way that doesn't come across as the Nasty Party or as a negative, unattractive kind of presentation?PJ: Well, personally, it's simple. Because personally, it's so easy to love people. And in the context of your genuine care and concern and love for them, the negative things that you say are part of that expression of love. But media-wise and in a book, it's much harder to do.What I am trying to emphasize is that the thing that connects us with people in the world is not culture studies, and so on. The thing that connects us is creation. We're humans, we have babies, we're in love, we live in a magnificent creation. And so, try and say the positive things that are part of the way in which God has made us and which work and which we enjoy.But having said all that, no matter how hard you try, in a hyper-sensitive age, as soon as you say, "Yeah, but we're all liars" … It's offensive.TP: Are you saying that if we get too apologetic or defensive about the gospel, we don't expose people to truth about themselves?PJ: Yes, absolutely. And in fact, I looked at apologia in the New Testament. It's never used of intellectual defence. It's always used of what you say when you're dragged in front of the court.TP: Like when Paul making his defence before...PJ: Festus or Agrippa or people like that. That's when you use the word. There is the reference in 1 Peter 3 about giving the defence for the hope that lies within you. But that's in the context of being accused of being immoral and then being dragged off and persecuted. So it always seems to be in the persecution context.And kategoria (to accuse, to convict) is used almost twice as often as apologia. But hardly anybody talks about that—about ‘kategorics'.The other good word, which we don't know how to translate, is the one in John 16 about Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin and righteous and judgement. And in that sense, while I need to point out what's wrong with the world, it's the Holy Spirit who does that work of conviction.I wonder if the best word is ‘exposé'. We're trying to do an exposé of the world. A bit like how the ICAC in NSW ‘exposes' corruption but doesn't actually do the prosecuting. It's the Holy Spirit who prosecutes.TP: So as part of this book on evangelism, you're going to be talking about what the gospel actually is, the gospel that we preach, and you're going to use Two Ways To Live as your summary or framework—which is a convenient segue to one of the things that I wanted to ask you about.With this new version of Two Ways To Live—one of the things that it's managed to successfully convey is the centrality and importance of the resurrection of Jesus.Most people don't think of it that way. In fact, most of us would probably say the cross is the centre or the nutshell or the climax of the gospel, and the resurrection is kind of the denouement, the wrapping up of the loose ends. So why do you say that the resurrection is the climax of the gospel?PJ: When you analyse the New Testament and its gospel preaching, it nearly always features the resurrection. And I think in the Book of Acts, it always is on the resurrection. And what is interesting in the Book of Acts is that it's never on the atoning work of the cross. Luke knows about the atoning work of the cross, because Paul speaks about it in Acts 20 to the Ephesian elders. It's not as if it's a theologically unknown thing. But that's not what they preached when they were speaking to the Jews in the synagogues, or the Gentiles in the synagogues, or the out and out Gentiles in Athens. But they always preached the resurrection.It's slightly astonishing when you first see it, because most gospel preaching in my lifetime has been about Jesus dying on the cross for my sins—which I believe and the New Testament believes. But then the resurrection is, “Oh and by the way, he's not dead; he's alive.” It has no theological place. It's just a kind of an end point somehow.But that's not how it was in the New Testament. As you explore the word ‘gospel', it means ‘the great declaration'. And the great declaration is that Jesus is King. Which explains why in the Gospels, when Jesus preaches the gospel, it's all about the kingdom of God. It's not about the crucifixion there either. And so the opening gospel reference is Jesus in Mark 1:14-15: "The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." It's about the coming of the Kingdom. And with the resurrection of Jesus, the kingdom of Jesus, the kingdom of our Lord has arrived. And so, that's the announcement, the King has come.But when you come to the answer, “the King has come”, you find out that the way he came, was by conquering the enemy. And he conquered the enemy by his death and resurrection—not that I want toreplace Penal Substitutionary Atonement with Christus Victor. But Christus Victor is there. It's just not the alternative to Penal Sub. How did he conquer the enemy? Well, by paying the penalty for us and turning aside God's wrath—so that the outcome is you can preach to those who repent and acknowledge the King that you'll be forgiven, you'll be pardoned, because he became King by his atoning death and resurrection. But resurrection is a key element to it.Once you notice this, you also begin to notice all the other NT gospel summaries in which the resurrection is central. For example, much of Romans is an exposition of the propitiatory redemption by Jesus, but it starts with Paul talking about the ‘gospel of God', and summarizing it as: “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:3-4). 2 Tim 2:8 is much the same: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel”.Now, none of this means that the atoning work of the Lord, His death on the cross is an irrelevance! It is absolutely fundamental to his resurrection. Without it, there would be no resurrection. The two go hand-in-hand, but the thing you say to the outsider first is resurrection. The thing that you then say is forgiveness through the death. That would seem as the pattern in the New Testament uses.TP: It's like that verse in Acts 2 when Peter gets to the climax of his sermon and he says, "Therefore let all Israel know that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."PJ: Yes, and then they're cut to the heart. And ask what can we do?TP: Repent and be forgiven.PJ: Yes.TP: So, in Two Ways To Live you get to the resurrection at point five of the six points. It's the climax, and point six is the response. And in this new edition, we've put the offer of forgiveness of sins into point five, into the resurrection box for this reason—to capture the sense that we're at the climax and the offer of the gospel. Everything has now been said. We've understood the death of Jesus, because we've understood the judgment of God, because we've understood sin, because we've understood creation, and so then you get to the climax in the resurrection where the gospel declaration and offer is.PJ: Yes. In Luke 24, in the upper room where he's speaking to the apostles in his resurrection, he says: "It was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and repentance and forgiveness of sins to be preached to all nations” and so on. I think most of the community's evangelism in my lifetime has been “Christ suffered for your sins … and repentance and forgiveness of sin should be all preached to all nations”. You leave out the resurrection phrase—whereas the resurrection is the effective solution, and the effective consequence, of him dying for our sins, which enables repentance and forgiveness now to be preached to all nations.TP: And to go further, I'd say the gospel I've heard for most of my lifetime in evangelical churches is: he died for our sins so that you can be forgiven and receive eternal life through that atonement. Virtually full stop. ‘Repent' is often not there.PJ: Yes. And why is that so? It can be lots of reasons. One is we don't like to say anything negative to people about their lives. Another is that we're so committed to the idea that gospel is ‘good news', rather than ‘great news' that we don't want to say anything that has any negative element to it at all. We just want to tell the good news that you're forgiven, you're forgiven, you're forgiven.TP: And if you don't talk about Jesus as the Risen King, then there's nobody really to repent before.PJ: I spent many, many happy years at Katoomba Convention. And I was a young fellow when I was involved in the Council there. And there are a lot of really great old men of evangelicalism in Sydney, who shared with me lots of stories and episodes of life. I heard many times about the famous evangelists who came to Sydney in the 1930s and 40s and 50s. Billy Graham (in 1959) was just the end one. There was Hiram Appleby, and all kinds of people. But they said that the one who had the smallest number of converts, but the highest rate of retention was WP Nicholson, the great Irish evangelist. Not many people got converted by his preaching, but the people who got converted were really converted. The jungle doctor, Paul White, was one of them. And one of the distinctive things of WP Nicholson's evangelism was that he used to ask for repentance and restitution. "If you really are repentant, well then go and pay back what you've done." He preached restitution, which limited the number of people who signed the decision cards! But those who did, really repented.TP: As I've read about the gospel and controversies about the gospel over the last 25 or 30 years, there's been this fight between two groups—the forgiveness-cross-penal substitution people, and the resurrection-kingdom people; almost like there are two gospels. And the resurrection-kingdom gospel is often about the renovation and renewal of the world, and it becomes an atonement-less, cross-less kind of gospel. And I can understand why many good brothers don't want to go there, and so are a bit reluctant to give the resurrection too much play in case it becomes this kind of kingdom gospel.PJ: Yes you have to keep the two together. It's also like that gospel where you can supposedly have Jesus as your Saviour and then some other time have a second kind of blessing of his Lordship. But, the only way he saves you is by being your Lord. You have to keep the two things together.TP: The other really unique thing about Two Ways To Live as a gospel outline is that it talks about creation, and hardly any other gospel presentations do that.PJ: No, they don't. And hardly any in the New Testament do either. Adam is hardly mentioned in the Old Testament once you get past Gen 1-3. But creation is the backdrop to everything that happens in the selection of Abraham and the history of Israel. And it's a part that I think the Jews didn't quarrel about. The Sadducees and the Pharisees fought over the resurrection and over angels and over prophets. They didn't fight over creation; that was just a given. And so, there was no reason for Paul to particularly preach in the synagogues about creation or for Jesus to preach about creation. However, it is striking that when Paul goes to Lystra and he's talking to pagans and when he goes to Athens and he's talking to idolaters, then he begins with the one God, who is the creator of all and to whom we are answerable—and so worshipping men in Lystra, and worshipping idols in Acts 17, is totally inappropriate. This is critical to understanding their situation and need of forgiveness and the need of the Christ.And that I think is true in our context. In one sense, previous generations accepted creation. But we've now lived through this great fight over evolution and intelligent design, where atheists use evolution to argue against God's existence, and Christians use intelligent design to argue for God's existence, and neither are listening to each other at all.The opposite of creation is not evolution. The opposite of creation is accidentalism; it's naturalistic materialism and atheism. That's why the Christians are right in feeling that evolution is on the side of the atheists because the atheists use evolution in that way. But we mustn't get ourselves hung up with the mechanisms. The issue is accidentalism, as opposed to purposeful personal creation. You get rid of creation and the creator, you then change the doctrine of sin, because sin is no longer humans' rebellion against their creator; sin now becomes breaking rules and regulations. And so, instead of being people who place themselves outside the law, and people who make their own laws, as the essence of sin, we become law breakers as the essence of sin. And so, we then move to solve the problems by attending to the symptoms, rather than attending to the disease. And if you've got a wrong diagnosis, just attending to symptoms for example, you'll never solve the problem.PJ: You've got to diagnose what the disease is. And the disease is our rebellion against God—which means you can be a highly moral person, and totally godless. Whereas the highly moral person doesn't feel like we are preaching to them because they are moral.And so, without a proper doctrine of creation, I don't think you've get a proper doctrine of sin. And without a proper doctrine of sin, the reason for judgment seems weird. Because, I mean, why do you get sent to hell for eternity for telling lies or stealing from Woolworths. It seems disproportionate, somehow. But that's because you're thinking just of the symptoms; you're not thinking of how you have put yourself in total opposition to God.And so you don't understand, "How did Jesus dying on the cross actually pay for my sin?" It all becomes de-personalized, de-relationalized and symptomatic, rather than disease-oriented. So we need to re-introduce creation into our understanding, so that people will understand what sin is, what God's judgment is, and how Jesus' death pays for it.TP: I think that's very true. I think some of the other gospel presentations I've seen recently focus on the problems we have—our lack of meaning, our lack of purpose, the things that we desire and seek, and so on. These are symptoms. But if we don't penetrate further down to the underlying problem, which is a rebellion against God, it's very hard to see then why death is God's judgment against us, and why Jesus' death is the answer.PJ: And it lacks the eschatology too, doesn't it? It speaks of the damage that we do to ourselves, each other and the world (as our new version puts it), but doesn't go further than offering to fix that damage. If I can fix the damage, then I've helped you. And so, Jesus loves you, and he's shown he loves you by his death, and has risen from the dead. And so now turn back to him, and you will have a fulfilled, happy, satisfied life. But the eschatology of the gospel has just completely gone.So I think the creation background is an important one for our understanding.Hope you enjoyed that. I'll be back next week, God willing, with another instalment from the Two Ways to Live evangelistic book that I'm writing. I'm up to chapter 4 on the death of Jesus, and plan to send at least some of that chapter out to the whole list next week. If you'd like to get every edition of The Payneful Truth every week, become a subscriber. Here's a free trial link: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
Australian Evangelist Sam Chan, who works with City Bible Forum, joins us to talk about connecting with our complex world through topical preaching. There are many things to consider when preaching to various people groups that may impact the way we preach. Different cultural groups may think differently on an axis of hierarchy-equality and freedom-control. Sam leads us through how being aware of these factors and having a high cultural, emotional and informational intelligence will impact our preaching for the better. Plus, Sam responds to Phillip Jensen's response to his critique of the gospel outline Two Ways to Live. He then explores the differences between topical preaching in the evangelistic context and systematic teaching in the context of educating our church family. Sam Chan has a new book out, co-authored with Malcom Gill, called ‘Topical Preaching In a Complex World' you can find through this link if you wish to learn more on this topic. https://j.mp/3Gz3MJWAdvertisment:At Village Church Annandale in the inner west of Sydney we are looking for a full time assistant minister to join our team to work in the area of maturity and ministry.Details are at http://villagechurch.sydney/assistant Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Evangelical Worship An episode of the Chat Room where Kel Richards and Phillip Jensen engage in conversations about topical issues. For more Chat Room episodes please see The Chat Room. Source
The Briefing 21 Years On An episode of the Chat Room where Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen engage in conversations about topical issues. For more Chat Room episodes please see The Chat Room. Source
Aren't All Good People Christians? An episode of the Chat Room where Kel Richards and Phillip Jensen engage in conversations about topical issues. For more Chat Room episodes please see The Chat Room. Source
We are joined by the authors of Two Ways to Live, Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, to talk through the changes they have made to the iconic gospel outline. We talk through the what and why behind the changes.Plus how do they respond to recent criticisms of the Two Ways to Live outline? Phillip Jensen is the former Anglican Dean of Sydney. He now leads Two Ways Ministries. Tony Payne is chair of Matthias Media. See the related discussion with Sam Chan on his 'Evangelism in a skeptical world'For more about the new Two Ways to Live go to Matthias Media's page.https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/2WTL-----Please financially support the Living Faith pastoral ministry by going to http://www.livingfaith.online Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Phillip Jensen attacks evangelical assumptions about ministry training, spiritual gifts, and more.Original publication date: Dec 1, 2009
How and should Christian pastors exercise leadership in the debate over vaccination? What role should the church leader play in speaking to members about vaccination when there's a range of different perspectives? What difference will selfish individualism vs an ethic of other person centredness/ community responsibility make to the vaccination rollout? What's the impact of the society's loss of confidence in government, science and journalism on the current debate?Plus, How should we feel about suggestions to make vaccination passports for church attendance mandatory (whether imposed by government or denominational or local leadership)?John McClean is Vice Principal and Ethics Lecturer at Sydney's Presbyterian Christ College. Phillip Jensen is former Anglican Dean of Sydney and now leads Two Ways Ministries. Ray Galea pastors the influential MBM church in the heart of the COVID hotspot area in Western Sydney. http://www.thepastorsheart.net/vaccinationSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Series: Life, death & God
Series: Life, death & God
Listen online or download.
Listen online or download.
This is the Homegrown Faith Podcast. Each week pastors Jo Clark and Richard Sweatman talk together about God, the Bible, and the everyday life growing in faith in Jesus. This podcast is coming to you from Hunter Bible Church, in Newcastle Australia. For more info, check out www.hunterbiblechurch.orgJo and Richard discuss JOMO, a fish tank quandary, the home-alone Jesus scenario, and polygamy. Find the cartoon here: https://www.leunig.com.au/works/recent-cartoons/769-jomo. The talk on polygamy by Phillip Jensen can be found here: https://phillipjensen.com/resources/polygamy-2/Support the show
This is one of the free posts that goes out every three weeks or so to everyone on the Payneful Truth mailing list (i.e. ‘partners' and those on the free list). If you're a ‘freelister' and wondering what you've missed over the last few weeks, we've had posts on:* ‘masculinism' (a follow-up to that post about feminism)* a discussion of the nature and value of gospel outlines, and whether Two ways to live is worth renovating after all these years;* plus a draft new version of the Two ways to live outline for comment.If you'd like to catch up on those topics, or start getting every week's post, just hit the subscribe button to become a regular partner. Or if you'd like to be a partner and get every edition, but are really skint, just send me an email at tonyjpayne@me.com—I'd be happy to enrol you as a ‘free partner' for the next 12 months.The Bible verse that still kills meIn my part of the Christian hive, the bees have been buzzing recently about an apparent shortage of senior pastors—the ‘minister drought' as it's been dubbed. Various theories have been put forward. It's the system. It's the selfish materialism of the current generation. It's the ridiculous burden of administration and compliance that senior ministers now have to bear (and about which they loudly complain). It's our failure to cast a positive vision. It's that Phillip Jensen was a savant and we don't have a replacement. And more besides. I'm not going to try to untangle the spaghetti of factors and influences that are at play in regard to this particular question.But the discussion has prompted me to think again about something that has been on my mind for a while. Why is it that some churches have the happy knack of recruiting a steady stream of people for full-time gospel ministry, and other churches don't? Even accounting for demographic, socio-economic and other contextual factors, some churches keep sending keen, gifted, godly men and women off to theological college and into full-time ministry; and others not so much. Why is this? Reflecting theologically on my own experience of being ‘recruited' like this, and of seeing it in action in various ministries for the past nearly four decades, I can identify at least four key factors. Perhaps there are more. But in my observation, when these four factors or drivers are all present, people with full-time ministry on their hearts somehow keep bubbling to the surface and heading off to Bible college. Over the next few posts I'm going to explore these factors—not so much because doing so might help solve a particular current problem, but because these four factors are an indicator of good health for any church. In fact, if they are not present in your current ministry, then the failure to recruit people for full-time ministry might be the least of your problems. The first key factor is that the radical call of the gospel to die to self and live for Christ is being boldly preached, taught and exemplified. I still vividly remember when this happened with me. I was about 20, a keen but still very green young Christian, fresh from the country and a misspent youth in high-church, charismatic Anglicanism. I was discovering for the first time the heart-expanding delights of expository Bible preaching. I never knew that so much profound truth could be found in a Bible passage, if you took the time to really listen to it. And I never anticipated what wonderful spiritual carnage could be wrought by concepts like ‘election' and ‘propitiation' and ‘biblical theology', when they went off like colour bombs in your head. All in all, it was dawning on me that this Christianity caper was a deeper and more profound thing than I had realised. Then, one evening at a conference, a preacher gifted with clarity and boldness explained 2 Cor 5:14-15 to me. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”As the truth of these verses started to break over me, the whole universe went out of focus for a minute. And when it resolved back into sharpness, everything had changed. As it says in the following verses, The old had passed away; behold, the new had come. It's not as if I was unfamiliar with the gospel up to this point. I already knew and believed that Christ had died as my substitute, that my sins were forgiven by his blood, and that eternal life had been granted to me as a gift by his grace. I knew and believed that Jesus was Lord, and that I should obey him. I was a Christian (as I guess Paul assumed his Corinthian readers were).But the message of 2 Cor 5:14-15 went further or deeper than that. It showed me what the gospel of Jesus' death really meant for my life. It meant that it was over—my life, that is. It was not just that Christ had died for me on the cross; he had died as me. He had died not only as my substitute but as my representative. As a consequence of his death, I had also died. One died for all; therefore, all have died.And so my old life was dead and gone, with all its dreams, ambitions, desires and preferences. A new life had now begun, in which I lived not for myself but for him who for my sake died and was raised. This is how the love of Christ controls or compels us (verse 14). It first kills us, and then raises us to a new life of service to the Christ who in love died our death. I'm not saying that this was the moment that I started thinking about a future in full-time ministry. It was when it dawned on me that in the new life I was now living, I was already a minister of and for Christ. The driving agenda of my new life was to be the ‘ministry of reconciliation' that God had initiated in Christ and given to his people (i.e. the one that Paul describes in the following verses, 2 Cor 5:18-6:1). I my new life, I was one of the ‘fellow workers' of 6:1, who together constantly appeal to the world and to one another to be reconciled to God, and not to receive his reconciling grace in vain. (For those who have Greek, I strongly suspect that the sunergountes of 6:1 is referring to Paul ‘working together' with the Corinthians, rather than with God—although the latter is also true, as in 1 Cor 3:9.)In other words, well before any thought entered my head as to whether I should head down a particular pathway into ‘full-time gospel work', I had already been recruited for a lifetime of gospel service—to my spend my time, energies and resources seeking to help everyone around me be reconciled to God, and to live more and more for him, who for their sake died and was raised. If there is such a thing as the ‘call to ministry', I think this is it. It's the radical call of the gospel to come to Christ and die; to begin a new life in his service, as one of his ambassadors in the world (as 5:20 puts it). It's not a message for an elite squad of gifted recruits. It's a challenge for every Christian. Where this revolutionary message is being boldly, clearly and persistently preached, and by God's Spirit is having its profound effect in Christian hearts, then a growing army of gospel ambassadors will be recruited. And some of these will be gifted with the abilities, character and opportunities to engage in this ministry full-time, with the financial support of others. But whether or not it becomes our full-time occupation, it remains our full-time role. It's who we are, in this new life that we live for him who for our sake died and was raised. That's the first key factor. We won't raise up some Christians for full-time occupational gospel ministry unless we are calling all Christians to be sold-out, full-time, servants of Christ. And this happens, at the first level, through the clear, bold preaching of passages like 2 Cor 5:14-15 (or Col 3:1-4, or Mk 8:34-38, or Gal 2:20)—that is, through the preaching of the gospel of Christ's death and ours. That takes us to a second and obviously related factor. Granted that we are all called to this radical service of Christ—how are we to think about the relationship between doing that as a full-time occupation (as a pastor or other gospel ‘worker') and the daily secular work by which most of us earn a living? In my observation, churches or other ministries that have figured this issue out, and teach on it clearly, also seem to be those who raise up lots of people for full-time ministry. But let's leave that for next time. PSMany thanks to those who gave feedback and suggestions about the proposed revisions to the Two ways to live (2wtl) outline. Very useful indeed! I've also been doing quite a bit of work over the past couple of months on some new training material that makes use of the 2wtl outline. My thought is to split the current 2wtl course in half, and create two completely new resources: * one that focuses on learning or knowing the gospel thoroughly and deeply, by working through the six points of 2wtl and exploring their meaning and connections (let's call it Learn the Gospel with 2wtl)* and another that deals specifically with having gospel conversations, and how the 2wtl outline can equip us for that (Share the Gospel with 2wtl). I'm planning to share some drafts of the first of those resources (Learn the Gospel) in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for that. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe
Kim Gibson's journey with ovarian cancer has taught her many things about God and herself. Listen as she speaks with Taryn Hayes about her journey to faith, student ministry, cancer, books and much more. EPISODE NOTES: Kim Gibson grew up on a farm in country New South Wales. For the past eight years she has been working in university ministry with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES). At present and for the past four years, her work has been at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Kim is married to Richard, Principal of Brisbane School of Theology and together they attend Moorooka Presbyterian Church. Kim has 3 adult step-children, 1 grandson, 4 nephews and 1 niece – all at the young age of almost 40. Kim's journey includes a diagnosis of ovarian cancer 4 years ago as well as ongoing treatment. Kim also serves on the GROW Women's Conference Committee and can be found giving book reviews over at the 2020 GROW Chats podcast. From the host: Kim Gibson is someone who has known pain and suffering intimately. In fact, even though she feels quite well now, she is still walking the road of cancer and has been for a few years. I think that one of the most striking parts of her testimony of walking this road is not that she has felt that she has suffered well, but rather that even while she has been in deepest despair, that God is still God and that is something to rejoice in. She tells a story in this episode of her husband's wise words during a time of great pain. She says, “One time really early on, I had complications with surgery. We (Richard and I) were reading through 2 Corinthians together, where Paul says, “praise be to the God of all comfort.” And … I kind of whisper-yelled … “Where's the comfort? I know that God doesn't lie, but where is the comfort? I am not feeling it! How is this true?” And (my husband) said, “it's a comfort that stands outside you and your circumstances. It's not necessarily a comfort you can feel. But it is a comfort that at a real point in history, on a real hill, the son of God gave up his life for you so that you could be safe. And you might not be able to feel it right now, but it actually has to be a comfort that sits outside you and your feelings for it to be a real comfort.” Kim says that it took some time for that to resonate deeply, but the truth of it has held her firmly during this difficult journey. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Full of Promise (Interactive Bible Study Series from Matthias Media) by Phil Campbell and Bryson Smith Guidance and the Voice of God, by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne Just Do Something, by Kevin de Young Fearing God … so we don't have to be afraid, David Mears The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-Sex Attraction, Ed Shaw A Little Book on the Christian Life, John Calvin (trans. Denlinger & Parsons) 2020 GROW Chats podcast. SHOW SNIPPETS: "I had this repeated experience from late primary school to uni … I would think, if I died right now, would God welcome me into heaven, or would he have to say that I'm sorry, but because of your sins I will have to turn you away? … It would end the same way … with me promising to try harder." "All of a sudden, the penny dropped. Oh! It doesn't depend on me! … Jesus is completely sufficient where I am insufficient! He was completely perfect where I am imperfect!" "A staff worker opened up the book of Ephesians and said we are going to work our way through the book of Ephesians verse by verse. And I went, “You're kidding me! I've never seen this done before! That makes so much sense!” I had never seen anyone teach through the Bible like that … it was like I had been starving my whole life and then someone finally fed me!" "At the start of 2016, I found out that I had a pelvic mass… I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Stage 3 (and) grade 3 cancer… It was aggressive." "I was 35, I was in medical menopause, I was never going to be able to have children. And I was facing a cancer prognosis where only 40% of women with my diagnosis and my type of cancer are alive in 5 years time… The grief and the fear hit me like a truck." "One time, really early on, I had complications with surgery. We (Richard and I) were reading through 2 Corinthians together, where Paul says, “praise be to the God of all comfort.” And … I kind of whisper-yelled … “Where's the comfort? I know that God doesn't lie, but where is the comfort? I am not feeling it! How is this true?” And (my husband) said, “it's a comfort that stands outside you and your circumstances. It's not necessarily a comfort you can feel. But it is a comfort that at a real point in history, on a real hill, the son of God gave up his life for you so that you could be safe. And you might not be able to feel it right now, but it actually has to be a comfort that sits outside you and your feelings for it to be a real comfort.” "When we fear God, it helps us grapple with our other fears." "That's how we want to read books anyway. Every Christian book you read is not the Bible. And even if it is your favourite author from your favourite publishing company, you still have to read it with discernment, and read it with wisdom, and read it comparing it to Scripture. So, yeah, you don't have to start burning books because there is one chapter in it that is not great. And you don't have to believe that everything is perfect about the books that you do love." Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
The minister drought and what to do about it? - with Phillip JensenThere's been an across the board drop in people stepping up to serve in full time ministry roles whether as senior pastors, assistant pastors or people putting themselves forward to study at theological college. We had the Principal of Moore Theological College, Mark Thompson on The Pastor's Heart a few months ago and he said that enrolments are down for theological colleges across the western world. It's very different to twenty years ago, when all the talk at Moore College was of continued growth.Humanly speaking Phillip Jensen was the person in Sydney used by God most significantly to prompt the explosion in gospel workers.We ask Phillip what are the factors that have contributed to the slump, and what needs to be done?Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
This week on The Pastor's Heart we talk big COVID changes: individualism and community, autonomy and submission, free press & censorship, materialism, wealth and its assumptions and the seriousness of life.Plus the massive advantages for ministry and evangelism in a society which has much more time on our hands and is much more aware of the reality of death.Plus we ask Phillip how Christian leaders can honour Jesus, loving the flock and reach the lost in the Corona season.More at: http://www.thepastorsheart.netSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Listen online or download.
Listen online or download.
Phillip Jensen traces how Australia went from a majority nominally-Christian nation in the 1950s to the non-religious nation it is today. He covers ground from Billy Graham, the advent of TV and the moon landing all the way to the modern world. And he looks at how the liberals, the Pentecostals and the evangelicals responded. If you want to learn from Australian history and understand the culture we’re in, this is an excellent episode for you. Special thanks to Dominic Steele at The Pastors Heart for giving us permission to republish this episode. Make sure you subscribe to the Pastors Heart here. Share your ideas for CEC We have opened up a new part of our website for you to contribute your ideas. If you have an idea for a future CEC module or if you want to drop us a note of encouragement or constructive criticism or anything else, we'd love to hear from you. Just head to the 'Your Ideas' page of the CEC website here. And if you have skills in researching or project management and would like to contribute to CEC in 2020, there's an option on the same feedback form to let us know. Christians Engaging Culture exists to equip the members of St Thomas’ to give faithful answers in everyday cultural conversations and to turn those conversations to the gospel. The aim of this podcast is to start conversations around our church community, so please encourage everyone at church to subscribe (and show them how to!) and when you see people, ask them what they thought of this week's episode. You can find the Christians Engaging Culture website here. If you are not a member of St Thomas', we invite you to look at the 'About Us' page of our website here.
The final talk by Phillip Jensen on Titus at the FIEC 2019 National Conference.
Phillip Jensen speaks on Titus 2 at the FIEC 2019 National Conference.
Phillip Jensen speaks on Titus 1 at the FIEC 2019 National Conference.
Idolatry can be confusing—not because there’s any doubt as to whether it’s a good thing or not (it’s definitely not), but because the concept is often applied these days to all kinds of actions that don’t obviously have anything to do with making statues and bowing down to them. My family can be an idol. So apparently can my work, my ministry and my devotion to the mighty Sydney Swans. But when everything can be a potential idol, does the “idolatry” as a concept lose some of its power? In this episode, we go back to the Bible with Phillip Jensen to discover what idolatry really is, and why it is still a danger to the Christian life today. For show notes and episode transcript, go to https://ccl.moore.edu.au/2019/07/31/podcast-episode-031/
The last death throes of cultural Christianity and what's next with Phillip JensenFormer Anglican Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen says to understand the issues fronting Christians today we will best start with understanding the history.Phillip, who now heads up Two Ways Ministries, takes us on a helicopter journey through fifty years of cultural and Christian history...and considers where to from here? Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Former Dean of the St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney and founder of Two Ways Ministries, unpacks the recent Israel Folau debates in the context of the Scriptures.
Phillip Jensen, founder of Two Ways Ministries, speaking on the need for people to be called to repentance in evangelism.
A fascinating journey into an important aspect of Australian evangelicalism's family story with Senior Pastor of Perth's Providence Church, Rory Shiner. We look at the amazing legacy of former Sydney Vice Principal of Moore Theological College Donald Robinson, his fresh reading of the Scriptures, fathering of the Australian biblical theological movement, what became known as the ‘Knox-Robinson view of church' and remarkable new insights into the Jew Gentile relationships in the New Testament. Plus how Robinson shaped a subsequent generation of significant leaders theologically, including Phillip Jensen and Graham Goldsworthy. The interview coincides with the release of a further two books in the Donald Robinson collection. To purchase go to http://bit.ly/donaldrobinsonLink to the landmark talk by Phillip Jensen from 1988 ‘Why Bishops are deacons' which was referenced in the discussion. https://phillipjensen.com/sermons/1988-why-bishops-are-deacons/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)
Special guest Phillip Jensen joins us this week and challenges us to be committed to prayer, committed to mission and committed to prayerful mission. Colossians 4:2-6
Sermon preached by Phillip Jensen on 1 Timothy 3:16 at the United Christian Church of Dubai
Sermon preached by Phillip Jensen on 1 Timothy 3:16 at the United Christian Church of Dubai
Phillip Jensen speaks to LIFT conference from 2 Thessalonians 3 on the topic of “Prayer”.
How does a Christian balance enjoying God's goodness and sacrificing your life? The reality of life ‘under the sun' is that the everyday circumstances of life - the highs, the lows - are full of mundane stuff, and multiple options, choices and sacrifices... This episode we talk to Mikey Lynch, author of The Good Life In The Last Days and see how a Christian ministry worker should go about making decisions. SHOW NOTES The Good Life In The Last Days, by Mikey Lynch The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller The Reason For God, Tim Keller Guidance And The Voice Of God, by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne The Word, One To One
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There was a time not so long ago when the question of how the Holy Spirit worked in the life of the Christian was a source of high controversy. Arguments over the “baptism in the Spirit” and the “gifts of the Spirit” dominated Christian conversation. These days, those arguments seem to have died down, and that may be a good thing—or then again, not. If we’ve stopped thinking and talking so much about the Spirit because we’ve sorted out the controversies and have a very clear idea of what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, that would be a good thing. But if we’ve just swept the subject under the carpet, or moved on to something else more interesting, that's not so good. We do need a clear, biblical understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit—especially in relation to our daily Christian lives. That’s what we tackle in this episode of the Centre for Christian Living podcast, with Tony Payne talking to Phillip Jensen.
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by Phillip Jensen. From NTE16: All Things New. This was Phillip's first talk of NTE16
This week's Bible talk features Phillip Jensen preaching from Matt 1:18-25 The talk was given on December 17, 2013 at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.
by Phillip Jensen. From NTE16: All Things New. This is Phillip's second talk & final talk of NTE16.
Nancy Guthrie talks with Phillip Jensen about how to teach the book of 1 Timothy
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In this panel discussion, Phillip Jensen (author of the gospel tract, “Two Ways to Live”) and Mark Dever discuss the Reformation, the Catholic church, and other theological issues. Jensen contends that, “to say that the pope is the vicar of Christ is blasphemy; it’s a terrible error. The Holy Spirit is the vicar of Christ.” Why are the Catholic claims of the Pope blasphemy against the Father, the Son, and the Spirit?
by Phillip Jensen
by Phillip Jensen
by Phillip Jensen
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge continue their visit to Australia in Sydney, Brisbane, Uluru and Adelaide. Right Royal Roundup was present at the Royal Easter Show and at St Andrew's Cathedral to see the royal couple. Little Prince George steals the show at Taronga Zoo, as he opens the Bilby Enclosure.See more in this week's show.Visit our website http://rightroyalroundup.com.au.Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RightRoyalRoundup, follow us on Twitter @RightRoyalRound and Instagram rightroyalroundup.
Phillip Jensen discusses Australian Anglicanism, dealing with success, his lack of regard for the academy, training ministers, and more.
This is the third of a series of evangelistic talks from Mark's Gospel by Phillip Jensen. The full series is available for purchase (in our Australian online store).
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